Page 49 of Breaker

“We have time,” she whispers. “Come here.”

Several things happen at once.

There’s a booming roar from behind me like a wild animal crashed into the room. I’m shoved, somehow both backward and to the side, and Sasha is screaming, trying to stand but the man has her by her hair, his arm pulled back like he’s going to slap her and then I yell, “Viper stop!”

She crashes to the ground, and he turns on me, chest heaving. His eyes fall to my zipper. I fix it, my heart pounding, as a primal growl rips from his throat right before he says, “Go out to the truck! Now!”

“Let her go,” I yell, marching forward to grab Viper’s arm before he actually hits her. I know deep in my gut he’d never hurt a girl, but I’m starting to doubt that feeling with the murderous fury turning his eyes dark and hateful. “We weren’t doing anything wrong.”

He spins on me, eyes flashing with violence. “Youweren’t doing anything wrong, but she was.“ He turns back, glaring down at Sasha but then stalks to me and grabs my arm. I look over my shoulder and see her scrambling to her feet, but she doesn’t come after us.

“Fuck off,” I yell at him, trying to shrug off his grip, my face so hot it feels like it’s on fire.

Viper shoves me through the store, then out the door. I trip over the entryway, and he catches me by the arm. He ripsthe passenger door to the truck open so roughly I’m surprised it doesn’t tear from the hinges. “Get in the truck,” he growls.

In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him so angry. Shame floods my cheeks, makes my heart skip. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, nothing that he hasn’t already done, nothing that Reaper or Hunter haven’t.

“You’re just jealous,” I snarl.

My back slams into the truck bed as he pushes me away, then yanks me by my collar, dragging me closer. “I’m not jealous of her.”

“Yes you are,” I snap. “You wanted it to be you.”

His brows knit, eyes darkening strangely, but he knows exactly what I mean.

“She likes me, and I like her and you can’t stand it.”

“You’re a fucking child,” Viper grates. He points back at the store. “That is a woman, and she never should have touched you.”

“She’s the same age as you,” I tell him.

Viper backs way, running his hands through his hair. His cheeks burn red, mouth set into a grim line. “And,I’mtoo old for you.”

“Four years isn’t that much older,” I tell him.

“It is when you are a thirteen-year-old boy and she’s practically a fucking adult.” Using the collar of my shirt, he shoves me in the truck cab. “Stay right here while I get Cook and Striker.”

He turns, casting an evil glare at the store, breathing in and out heavily like he’s debating going in there and slapping her anyway. I slam the door shut and cross my arms, my teeth grinding as I watch him. When he turns back around, he is a tad calmer, but there’s a line between his brow and his jaw’s clenched.

Viper leans against the truck door, resting his hands on the open window. The stormy sea in his eyes calms and my stomach settles.

“I’m not jealous, Breaker,” he whispers. “I’m angry. The person to touch you like that should be someone closer to your age. Someone who loves you, not someone who gets off on taking things from innocent boys.”

“What the fuck do you know about love?” I grate out. “You’ve never even been in love.”

“That’s not true. I love you.”

“You’re my brother,” I say. “You have to love me.”

I’m surprised when he smiles. “You’re so innocent it makes my chest hurt.”

“I’m not innocent,” I snap. Viper has no idea what I did to earn my name. I’m filthy from the things I’ve done. Stained, permanently in my soul, from the things Fallon told me were okay to do.

“Stupid, beautiful boy,” he whispers and backs away. “I’m so glad you don’t even know what I mean.”

Chapter 16

Striker

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